More purposeful projects, and changes...

 

(we have hundreds of bees in the garden every day)

Unfortunately I had to miss writing last Thursday's blog post, and just as I was getting into a regular routine with blogging that day each week. Never mind, this is a new week and I think routines are back to normal again.

It's been a busy time with family, around home, the garden, and our pets, so I decided to skip a Thursday blog and stay focused with all that was happening here. I'm sure you have weeks like that too? 

Blossom, Ross and the children moved house with the help of hubby and Ross's dad, and wouldn't you know it, after months of no rain whatsoever, a huge storm hit the night before and the next morning, so we all prayed and waited for the storm to subside. The children and their two pugs were safe and dry here with me, and eventually around 11am the men and Blossom began loading the moving truck as the rain had eased to a very light shower. Praise God. 

We live about 30 minutes south of Blossom, and barely got a drop of rain, though our garden was in dire need. It seems where we are the rain clouds drift past without sharing any of their precious cargo, so each morning I am outside at 5am to water the front and back gardens before the scorching sun makes its way over the mountain to shock us into closing the front curtains and making use of the air conditioner. It's spring here, but every day lately has been a smarting 35C (95F), with heat and humidity (over 90%) that sucks our energy rapidly. 

Some things in the garden are thriving, such as the sweet basil...

...and the thai basil.

Both of these plants attract hundreds of bees all day, and not just honey bees, but a variety of native bees as well as the glorious Great Carpenter bees. As I walk among the flourishing plants, the bees leave me alone, and I talk to them. Such beautiful creatures, and so very needed in gardens. 

My Borlotti beans are doing well too. This is my first year growing them (planted in winter) and they have been abundant in producing what the grandchildren call "dragon beans" due to the red flames along the pods. 

We have eaten a lot of them fresh over the past few months, but now I am letting them plump out and dry on the vines to store for winter soups. I'll also save some seeds for planting again next April, as that's when we plant our winter veggies (which in our climate is more like a comfortable spring). 

The elder tree thrives in our climate and is heavy with elderflowers and elderberries right now. I love this tree with its waving hanging boughs and branches thta create the most glorious archway from the back of the house towards the clothesline. It also offers speckled shade for gentle herbs in pots beneath. 

During the hot afternoons, I spend a couple of hours enjoying the air conditioner and relaxing on the couch. Having a stitching project on hand feeds my creative need, and staying with my original plan (here) of creating with a purpose in mind, I have a small list of items which will hopefully be made over the coming months as time allows. 

Early last week I traced up a long narrow embroidery pattern from one of Yumiko Higuchi's books...

The stitchery measures 2.25" x 12" edge to edge, and I was immediately drawn to the design because of the owl. Her book is focused on stitching the designs in a single colour, and I chose a lovely green (DMC 3052) to blend with the fabric I'd be using later. 

I purchased the book as an inexpensive PDF download, because the hardcover was frightfully expensive, and though it's in Japanese, if you're used to hand embroidery, you can work out how to stitch the patterns by viewing the photos provided. 

One thing I did differently to Yumiko's original, was to sew with smaller stitches than she does. I naturally embroider with small stitches and find it difficult to do otherwise, but I am so pleased I stayed true to my natural way of stitching as the end result is lovely.

I've stitched the design onto a white cotton/linen blend fabric, and fused Parlan behind the linen after tracing the pattern. 

I loved all the French knots and chain stitching! They fill out the shapes beautifully, and the end result is exactly what I was after for the project's intended purpose.

What purpose you may ask?

A cover for my computer keyboard. 

You see, we have had roadworks right out front of our home for the past year, and the amount of black dust and dirt that filters through the doors and windows is something I've never dealt with before. Dusting our home is something I do regularly, but this 'dust' which is actually dirt from the roadworks, has been extreme. My husband mentioned how dirty his keyboard at work is, and how often it must be cleaned, and I thought, "Just like my keyboard here at home".

So I decided to sew a cover to lay across the keyboard when not in use, and when I saw this long stitchery pattern in Yumiko's book it gave me an idea for just such a project. 

Now that the stitchery is completed I just need to sew the backing fabric in place and hand quilt inside the edges with running stitch. The green floral fabric you can see under the stitched panel (photo above) will be the backing, and was how I came to choose that green for the embroidery. It will be finished later today and I'll share pics next Thursday.

Another purposeful project since the last blog post, was moving my computer into the sewing room and out of the living room. It's been hard working on the small desk in our living room these past eight years, especially whilst running a business from home, and for designing patterns most of the years. As the years have passed, I have gradually been donating a lot of fabrics, trims, threads and books to local charity stores, and pared down what I want to keep or use in the future. By doing this I have finally made a good space to set up my 'office', with a window before me, and the native birds singing in our bottle brush and grevillea trees...and I am so happy about that. :-) This has allowed me to spread out my pattern notes, and prepare many more patterns for the Etsy shop, mostly patterns that have sat made, yet unpublished, for a very long time, as well as the patterns from over a decade ago which have never been in the shop before. All this is a blessing to us, as times are tougher now. 

My sewing room/office is just 9 feet square, but its amazing what you can do with a space that size when you need to!

Excuse the brightness of these photos, but the sun here is extremely bright and even on the shady side of the house each room glows in reflected sunbeams. 

Another change has been with our very old and precious cat, Sophie. She's 16 now, whis is 80 in human years, and since we got our large dachshund, Kelly, 18 months ago, she has had to be kept up in the fenced pool area. We had no idea when we took on Kelly (a rescue dog) that he would hate Sophie, and she would hate him. Up until then Sophie has loved all the family dogs, to the point of annoying them with her practical jokes, but she and Kelly did not take to each other at all. In fact Kelly hates it when we cuddle her and spend time with her in the undercover pool area, as we have found him to be an incredibly jealous dachshund, and she's not safe around him. This year she is not managing the heat at all. In fact, we saw a glimpse of this last summer, but only a glimpse. Another year passes and she is older, and not coping. Our girl has always prefered the outdoors, loved the spring/summer/autumn heat of the tropics (which astounded us), but now we have made the decision to keep healthy 2½ year old Kelly outside and bring Sophie inside permanently. We tried this in winter but she would keep wanting to go outside, so we gave in, and back to the shady pool area she went, but this time she is seemingly content to sleep a lot under our bed and just be with us. Praise God.

Next week I'm going to share a couple of free Christmas patterns with you, but in the meantime, I would love for you to pray for Blossom and Ross. As you know, he has been out of work and homeschooling the children much of this year, whilst Bloss has spent the past six months working as a cleaner. Well, this past week she damaged her shoulder and arm, and is unable to work. She's in a great deal of pain, and cannot get in for an MRI for at least two weeks, so its all about resting. Ross is looking for work, any work, to provide once more for the family, and they would very much appreciate your prayers over these two needs - her healing, and employment for him. Thank you darling friends. xx

I shall leave you with this, a morning devotional from Charles Spurgeon that spoke deeply into my heart the other day, and may be just what you need to hear as well...

God bless dear ones, and may you also be assured of the Lord's ear attending to your prayers...praise Yahweh!

Hugs, 

PS: My Etsy Shop is always open, so please drop by if you are in the mood for something new to stitch.

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